Russia: The Fethullah Gülen movement (Hizmet movement), including activities and regions of operation; treatment of members by society and authorities; recourse available to members, including state protection (2002-January 2015)

Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa

1. Overview of the Fethullah Gülen Movement

According to the website of Fethullah Gülen, the Fethullah Gülen movement originated in Turkey in the 1970s as a "faith-based movement" by followers of Fethullah Gülen, who is described as a "Turkish Muslim scholar" whose ideals are based on the Sufi beliefs of the interconnection between humanity, God and the natural world (Fethullah Gülen n.d.). Sources indicate that the Fethullah Gülen movement is known by different names, including:

the Hizmet movement (Turkey Analyst 4 Dec. 2013; BBC 29 Apr. 2014), which means "service" in Turkish (ibid.);

Cemaat, which means "the community" (Turkey Analyst 4 Dec. 2013; Reuters 3 Apr. 2014);

the Fethullahci (Jamestown Foundation 11 Mar. 2013).

According to Fethullah Gülen's website, Gülen has served as an imam, preacher, civil society activist, and has written more than sixty books, which have been translated into many languages (Fethullah Gülen 30 Sept. 2009). Sources indicate that Gülen lives in exile in the US (BBC 27 Jan. 2014; Jamestown Foundation 11 Mar. 2013).

Several sources link the Fethullah Gülen movement to the movement of Said Nursi (ibid.; SOVA 6 Feb. 2015; Fethullah Gülen n.d.). An article published by the Jamestown Foundation, a "provider of research and analysis on conflict and instability in Eurasia" (Jamestown Foundation n.d.), in its publication Eurasia Daily Monitor, describes Nursi, who lived from 1876 to 1960, as a Turkish theologian of the spiritual order of Sufi Islam who created an "apolitical ... mystical movement aimed at strengthening the people's faith and religion" and developed reading circles focused on his work (ibid. 11 Mar. 2013). Some sources describe Gülen as a "disciple" of Said Nursi (ibid.; SOVA 21 Apr. 2009). According to Fethullah Gülen's website, the Gülen movement is a "slightly different interpretation" of Said Nursi's tradition (Fethullah Gülen n.d.).

The Jamestown Foundation indicates that followers of Said Nursi and followers of Fethulah Gülen in Russia are often confused, as the two movements are "historically and ideologically close" (Jamestown Foundation 11 Mar. 2013). In correspondence with the Research Directorate, the Director of SOVA Center for Information and Analysis, a Moscow-based NGO that monitors and researches human rights, nationalism, xenophobia, and relations between church and state in Russia (SOVA n.d.), explained that, in Russia, the followers of Said Nursi can be, but are not always, Fethullah Gülen followers (ibid. 6 Feb. 2015).

Sources indicate that the Gülen movement's focus is education (Jamestown Foundation 11 Mar. 2013; Middle East Quarterly Winter 2009; Fethullah Gülen n.d.), as well as interfaith and intercultural dialogue (ibid.). According to the Gülen movement's website, the basis of the movement are "diverse service projects that are initiated, funded, and conducted by people who are motivated to various extents by Gülen's humanitarian discourse" (Gülen Movement n.d.). These projects include private schools and poverty aid programs (ibid).

The Gülen movement's website indicates that, while its origins are Turkish-Muslim, the movement has developed through the Turkish diaspora, is transnational in its outreach and is also active in many non-Muslim countries, attracting members of "diverse faiths and cultures" (Gülen Movement n.d.). According to Reuters, the Gülen movement operates approximately 2,000 educational institutions in 160 countries that teach a secular curriculum in English (3 Apr. 2014). BBC similarly notes that the schools provide a secular education, but teachers are expected to act as role models and refrain from smoking, drinking, or getting divorced (BBC 18 Dec. 2013).

The BBC reports that the Gülen movement does not have a formal structure, nor an official membership (ibid.). The BBC states that the movement has "millions" of followers spread across "more than 150 countries" (ibid. 29 Apr. 2014).

Sources indicate that the Gülen movement was previously allied with Turkish President Erdogan, but was later viewed as a rival (Münster Nov. 2014, 3; Al-Monitor 1 June 2014; Non-resident Scholar 6 Feb. 2015). In correspondence with the Research Directorate, a non-resident scholar of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Middle East Program, stated that since the break between Erdogan and the Gülen movement, some countries have hardened their position towards the movement (ibid.).

2. The Fethullah Gülen Movement in Russia

2.1 Activities and Regions of Operation

Sources indicate that following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Gülen movement's influence spread to Muslim regions of Russia and other post-Soviet states in Central Asia (Jamestown Foundation 11 Mar. 2013; CACI Analyst 2 July 2014) and the Caucasus (ibid.). According to the Jamestown Foundation, between 1992 and 2000, nearly 100 institutions affiliated with the Gülen movement were established in post-Soviet Russia, Central Asia and Azerbaijan (Jamestown Foundation 11 Mar. 2013). An article published by the Globalized World Post, an "interactive forum which seeks originality and the lively contribution in various debates of international politics and beyond" (GW Post n.d.), notes that the Fethullah Gülen movement has been active in areas of Russia with Turkic communities, including in Dagestan, Karachay-Cherkessia, Tatarstan and Bashkotorstan (ibid. 25 June 2012). Similarly, a 2014 research paper titled Transnational Islam in Russia and Crimea by Anne Münster [1], published by Chatham House [2], states that the Fethullah Gülen movement has operated in the North Caucasus, Tatarstan, and Bashkortostan regions of Russia since the 1990s, where it opened a number of schools (Münster Nov. 2014, 6). The Non-resident Scholar said that there were schools and cultural centres established by Fethullah Gülen followers in Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, and parts of the Caucasus (Balkar, Karachay, Kabarda, Ingushetia and Dagestan) (Non-resident Scholar 6 Feb. 2015). The same source indicates that from 1991 until 2000 or 2002, the Gülen movement was legally present in the Russian Federation, and operated with the approval and support of local authorities (ibid.).

According to Münster, the movement then became "controversial, and its schools were closed and staff deported between 2001 and 2006" (Nov. 2014, 6). Similarly, the Non-resident Scholar stated that Russian authorities thereafter closed their schools and expressed the opinion that the school closures were politically motivated (6 Feb. 2015). According to the Jamestown Foundation, Gülen-affiliated schools in Russia were forced to close in 2000 (11 Mar. 2013).

According to the Non-resident Scholar, following the closure of the schools, some Russian and Turkish citizens experienced problems with the Russian judicial system and were accused of "seditious religious activities" or of advocating "pan-Turkic ideas" (Non-resident Scholar 6 Feb. 2015). He expressed the opinion that the charges were "exaggerated" and politically motivated (ibid.). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

The Non-resident Scholar also expressed the opinion that the Gülen movement is no longer active in Russia in a structured form, but that a few people who had previously cooperated with the movement remain (ibid.). Münster states that the Fethullah Gülen movement operates in Russia "on an informal level through networks of friends and families" and sometimes gains access to local mosques and institutions (Nov. 2014, 6). The US Department of State's International Religious Freedom Report for 2013 notes that Nursi adherents and religious rights advocates claim there is no Nurcular organization [in Russia] (US 28 July 2014, 7). An article published by SOVA similarly denies the existence of a Nurcular organization in Russia (15 Jan. 2015).

2.2 Treatment by Authorities

Sources report that the Supreme Court banned the Fethullah Gülen movement [also known as the Nurcular group (Münster Nov. 2014, 6)] for extremism in 2008 (RFE/RL 16 Oct. 2014; SOVA 21 Apr. 2009). Sources indicate that Russia's federal list of extremist materials includes the works of Fethullah Gülen (Al-Monitor 1 June 2014; Münster Nov. 2014, 3), as well as Said Nursi (ibid.). Nursi's works were reportedly banned in 2007 (SOVA 4 June 2014; Forum 18 29 May 2008). According to Münster, items on this list of extremist materials have been "repeatedly used for prosecution and imprisonment" in Russia (Münster Nov. 2014, 3). According to the US International Religious Freedom Report for 2013,

[b]eing a member of a banned group designated as extremist is punishable by up to six years in prison. Possession of material considered extremist can result in 15 days' imprisonment or a fine of 3,000 rubles ($91). Courts may suspend for 90 days the operations of legal entities found to be in possession of extremist materials and fine them 100,000 rubles ($3,040) (US 28 July 2014, 4).

SOVA opposes the ban against Nursi's work and the alleged Nurcular organization and says that Nursi's work does not contain any extremist statements (SOVA 15 Jan. 2015). Similarly, Forum 18, an Oslo-based Christian foundation and news website that reports on "violations of freedom of thought, conscience and belief" (Forum 18 n.d.) states:

[t]he state has offered weak or no explanations for banning as "extremist" 39 Nursi works and an alleged associate organisation, "Nurdzhular", which Nursi readers deny exists. Much of the state's argumentation is incoherent, with quite different reasons offered for banning Nursi writings and "Nurdzhular" in different contexts. Court material seen by Forum 18 contain no evidence that either Nursi's writings or Muslims who read them advocate violence, despite claims to the contrary by officials. (ibid. 5 Mar. 2013)

According to the SOVA Director, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) does not differentiate between different types of Nursi followers and therefore Fethullah Gülen followers face the same risks as other Nursi followers in Russia (SOVA 6 Feb. 2015). He further indicated that anyone involved with Nursi's books or "related groups" face a risk of being arrested and accused of membership in the banned Nurcular organization (ibid.). Münster notes that members of the Gülen movement have been "under constant scrutiny by the security services" in Russia (Nov. 2014, 6).

2.2.1 Raids

Sources report that individuals who are believed to be Nursi followers or who read Nursi's work have been subjected to raids or searches of their homes by authorities (SOVA 7 Feb. 2015; Forum 18 29 May 2008). According to Forum 18, law enforcement agencies conducted raids of the homes of suspected Nursi readers across Russia around 2007 (ibid.). The same source reported that in December 2007, the FSB conducted raids on the homes of suspected Nursi readers, including of the Prisma cultural-educational foundation, where books by Fethullah Gülen were seized (ibid. 13 Dec. 2007). According to the SOVA Director, searches of Nursi adherents' homes were conducted in Daghestan in December 2010 and raids of Nursi followers occurred in February 2013 in Naberezhnye Chelny and August 2013 in Krasnoyarsk (7 Feb. 2015). Forum 18 reports that "armed raids" against Nursi readers took place in February 2013 in Tatarstan which resulted in two Nursi readers being charged with organizing "extremist' activity" (5 Mar. 2013).

2.2.2 Arrests and Detention

Sources also report that alleged Nursi adherents have been subjected to arrest and detention (RFE/RL 3 Mar. 2014; US 30 Apr. 2014, 141). According to Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), on 2 March 2013, 10 people were detained by the FSB in St. Petersburg "on suspicion of being involved with the banned Nurjular Islamic group," after "extremist literature in Russian and Turkish was found in their possession" (RFE/RL 3 Mar. 2013). According to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), 10 people were detained for being part of an alleged Nursi group in Krasnoyarsk in January 2014 (US 30 Apr. 2014, 141).

2.2.3 Charges and Convictions

Sources indicate that individuals allegedly affiliated with the Nurcular movement or who are readers of Nursi's work have faced charges and convictions (Forum 18, 19 June 2012; SOVA 7 Feb. 2015). According to the SOVA Director, in June 2011 in Orenburg, a Nursi follower was sentenced to a prison term of a year and a half after being "convicted of organizing forbidden activities" in relation to the banned Muslim organization Nurcular (ibid.). The same source reports that the individual's punishment was ultimately reduced to a fine, which, in his opinion was "a radical and probably unique instance of eased punishment for an 'extremist' charge" (ibid.).

According to Forum 18, criminal charges were brought against 14 individuals for reading Nursi's work in June 2012; 10 were convicted, of which five received prison sentences and five suspended prison sentences (Forum 18 19 June 2012).

Sources report that in 2013, two imams from Novosibirsk were reportedly each sentenced to one year in prison for allegedly attempting to organize a Nurcular cell (ibid. 10 Apr. 2014; SOVA 4 June 2014). Following the verdict, the imams filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ibid.; Forum 18 10 Apr. 2014), and the Russian Supreme Court (ibid.). Sources also report that in 2013, a St. Petersburg Nursi reader was sentenced to six months imprisonment on charges of organizing activities for the banned Nurcular group (SOVA 4 June 2014; US 28 July 2014, 7). A report published by SOVA notes that, in 2013 as well, charges for "'creating Nurcular cells'" were brought against one resident in the Rostov region, seven residents of the Perm region, one resident in Krasnoyarsk, and three people in Naberezhnye Chelny (SOVA 4 June 2014). In addition, one individual was charged for distributing one of Nursi's works (ibid.).

SOVA reports that in November 2014, 4 people in Ulyanovsk were charged with creating a cell of the Nurcular organization for studying and disseminating Nursi's books and ideas (SOVA 15 Jan. 2015). SOVA also reports that in December 2014, six people in Perm were sentenced to fines ranging from 30,000 rubles [C$605] to 100,000 rubles [C$2,017] under charges of being part of the Nurcular organization (ibid.). The same article notes that the Oktyabrsky District Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced several individuals who studied Nursi's works to a fine of 130 thousand rubles (ibid.).

According to a report published in 2009 by SOVA, in Tatarstan, Tatar-Turkish schools have come under pressure by authorities because they are perceived as being influenced by Nursi followers (SOVA 21 Apr. 2009). According to the SOVA Director, "in October 2007, the prosecutor general's office launched a large scale inspection of Tatar-Turkish schools in Tatarstan linked to Nurcular" (ibid. 7 Feb. 2015). They expected to discover and confiscate banned books but were unsuccessful (ibid.). Further and corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

2.3 Treatment by Russian Society

Information about the treatment of Fethullah Gülen members by Russian society could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

3. State Protection for Fethullah Gülen Members

Information about state protection for Fethullah Gülen followers who are victims of violence or discrimination could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response. However, according to USCIRF, local authorities often do not investigate hate crimes against ethnic and religious minorities, particularly against Muslim Central Asians (US 30 Apr. 2014, 143).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Notes

[1] Münster was a Robert Bosch Fellow at the Chatham House Russia and Eurasia Programme who conducted her doctoral research on Islam in Ukraine (Münster Nov. 2014, 18).

[2] Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, is a London-based independent policy institute that provides analysis of international affairs (Chatham House n.d.).

References

Al-Monitor. 1 June 2014. Vitaly Naumkin. "Russia, Turkey Agree on Gulen." [Accessed 21 Jan. 2015]

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). 29 April 2014. "Turkey to Seek Cleric Fethullah Gulen's Extradition." [Accessed 4 Feb. 2015]

_____. 27 January 2014. Guney Yildiz. "Analysis: Power of Turkey's Fethullah Gulen." [Accessed 4 Feb. 2015]

_____. 18 December 2013. "Profile: Fethullah Gulen's Hizmet Movement." [Accessed 21 Jan. 2015]

Central Asia-Caucasus Institute (CACI) Analyst. 2 July 2014. Bayram Balci. "What Future for the Fethullah Gülen Movement in Central Asia and the Caucasus?" [Accessed 21 Jan. 2015]

Chatham House. N.d. "About Us." [Accessed 4 Feb. 2015]

Fethullah Gülen. 30 September 2009. "Fethullah Gülen in Short." [Accessed 2 Feb. 2015]

_____. N.d. "Gülen Movement as a Change Agent." [Accessed 5 Feb. 2015]

Forum 18. 10 April 2014. Victoria Arnold. "Russia: 'Tired of the Unjust Treatment of the Books, Ourselves, and Our Loved Ones.'" [Accessed 11 Feb. 2015]

_____. 5 March 2013. Geraldine Fagan. "Russia: What's the Matter with Said Nursi?" [Accessed 6 Feb. 2015]

_____. 19 June 2012. Felix Corley. "Russia: 'An Attempt to Revive Total Ideological Control.'" [Accessed 6 Feb. 2015]

_____. 29 May 2008. Geraldine Fagan. "Russia: Are Turkish Teachers, Traditional Pagans, and Jehovah's Witnesses Religious Extremists?" [Accessed 6 Feb. 2015]

_____. 13 December 2007. Geraldine Fagan. "Russia: Fresh Raids on Moderate Turkish Muslim Theologian Readers." [Accessed 6 Feb. 2015]

_____. N.d. "About." [Accessed 16 Feb. 2015]

The Globalized World Post (GW Post). 25 June 2012. "The Gulen Movement as the Door Opening to Global Tolerance." [Accessed 5 Feb. 2015]

_____. N.d. "About Us." [Accessed 17 Feb. 2015]

Gülen Movement. N.d. "What is the Gülen Movement." [Accessed 30 Jan. 2015]

Jamestown Foundation. 11 March 2013. Igor Rotar."The Nursi Movement in the Former Soviet Union: Islamic Radicals or Agents of Turkish Influence?" Eurasia Daily Monitor. Vol. 10, Issue 45. [Accessed 4 Feb. 2015]

_____. N.d. "About Us." [Accessed 17 Feb. 2015]

Middle East Quarterly. Winter 2009. Rachel Sharon-Krespin. "Fethullah Gülen's Grand Ambition: Turkey's Islamist Danger." [Accessed 4 Feb. 2015]

Münster, Anna. November 2014. Transnational Islam in Russia and Crimea. Chatham House. [Accessed 30 Jan. 2015]

Non-resident Scholar. 6 February 2015. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). 16 October 2014. "In Perm, Russia Tries Suspected Members of Banned Islamic Group." [Accessed 10 Feb. 2015]

_____. 3 March 2013. "FSB Detains 10 on Extremist Charges." [Accessed 10 Feb. 2015]

Reuters. 3 April 2014. Ralph Boulton and Orhan Coskun. "Erdogan Takes Battle with Enemies Beyond Turkish Frontiers." [Accessed 2 Feb. 2015]

SOVA Center for Information and Analysis. 7 February 2015. Correspondence from the Director to the Research Directorate.

_____. 6 February 2015. Correspondence from the Director to the Research Directorate.

_____. 15 January 2015. "Misuse of Anti-Extremism in November and December 2014." [Accessed 6 Feb. 2015]

_____. 4 June 2014. Maria Kravchenko. Inappropriate Enforcement of Anti-Extremist Legislation in Russia in 2013. Edited by Alexander Verkhovsky. [Accessed 6 Feb. 2015]

_____. 21 April 2009. Alexander Verkhovsky and Galina Kozhevnikova. Inappropriate Enforcement of Anti-Extremist Legislation in Russia in 2008. [Accessed 6 Feb. 2015]

_____. N.d. "About." [Accessed 6 Feb. 2015]

Turkey Analyst. 4 December 2013. Svante E. Cornell. "Erdogan, the Hizmet Movement, and the PREP School Crisis: Turkey Enters a New Power Struggle." Vol. 6, No. 22. [Accessed 4 Feb. 2015]

United States (US). 28 July 2014. Department of State. "Russia." International Religious Freedom Report for 2013. [Accessed 6 Feb. 2015]

_____. 30 April 2014. US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). "Russia." Annual Report 2014. [Accessed 6 Feb. 2015]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: The following were unable to provide information for this Response: professor at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences; senior research associate at the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI); professor of Slavic studies at the University of Ottawa.

Attempts to contact the following were unsuccessful within the time constraints of this Response: representative of the Alliance for Shared Values; representative of the Moscow Helsinki Group; representative of Human Rights Watch, Moscow Office.

Internet sites, including: Al Jazeera, Amnesty International; ecoi.net; Europa.eu; Freedom House; Human Rights Watch; International Crisis Group; IRIN; Institute for War and Peace Reporting; Jane's Intelligence Review; Memorial; Minority Rights Group International; The Moscow Times; The St. Petersburg Times; UN - High Commissioner for Refugees, Reliefweb, Development Programme.